Media Ownership

The Big Six

A major film studio is a production and distribution company that releases a substantial number of films annually and consistently commands a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. These are the six biggest film studios in the world:

1. Warner bros. Entertainment (Time Warner)

2. The Walt Disney Studios (The Walt Disney Company)

3. NBCUniversal (Comcast)

4. Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (Sony)

5. Fox Filmed Entertainment (21st Century Fox)

6. Paramount Motion Pictures Group (Viacom)

Global Conglomerates

A corporation that is made up of a number of different, seemingly unrelated businesses. In a conglomerate, one company owns a controlling stake in a number of smaller companies, which conduct business separately. Each of a conglomerate’s subsidiary businesses runs independently of the other business divisions, but the subsidiaries’ management reports to senior management at the parent company.

This allows for the profit to remain within the conglomerate.

Cross-Media Ownership/Cross-Media Convergence

This is used to describe the ownership of multiple media businesses by a person or corporation, such as The Lego Movie (Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, 2014) and The Lego Movie Soundtrack that was released by WaterTower Music, an American record label owned by Time Warner (the owners of Warner Bros. Pictures who produced The Lego Movie).

Concentration of Ownership

Progressively fewer individuals or organisations control increasing shares of the mass-media; the media is largely dominated by a small number of organisations. As of 2010 The Walt Disney Company became the largest conglomerate and they dominate the children’s film industry and animations.

Synergy and Symbiosis

Synergy is one company who create related products in order to keep all of the profit generated by the idea. For example a film company may also own the soundtrack and merchandise related to the movie.

Symbiosis is where a few different companies come together to create products relating to the same film. This benefits both the film companies and the other companies as they promote each other.

Vertical and Horizontal Integration

Vertical integration is where a film company has full control over how a film is produced and distributed; this allows them to retain all of the profit made surrounding the film. Horizontal integration is where many companies will get involved with different areas of the production and distribution process, thus dividing the profits made by the film by all of the companies involved.

Changing Models of Film Revenue and Distribution

This is the traditional model of film distribution which was used before the time of digital recording and distribution.

However, as technologies have changed, so has the method of distribution. Video streaming methods such as Amazon Prime which have few production and delivery costs, compared to the traditional video rental services have flourished because of this and because of their ease of access to and convenience to the audience. This way of distributing film also reduced the risk of piracy which was an issue with the traditional distribution model.

It has also become easier to distribute film these days through the use of synergy, where it is easy to watch the content through devices which are made to do all kinds of things, such as the Xbox, which, although was made for the main purpose of gaming, can be used to stream films and browse the internet.

Promotion of films has also become easier through the development of modern technologies such as social networking. Sites such as Facebook, can use personal information in order to tailor advertise films to individuals. This can also, help with free promotion of films through people spreading content with their internet friends and through word-of-mouth.

This mass ownership of films has also produced a different revenue model from the traditional one, in the way that, now more businesses than just the production company hold a stake in the profits.

Section B – Introduction Lesson

On Tuesday we began covering the content for Part B of our exam: Institutions and Audiences.

We discovered that the questions that we are likely to be asked in the exam can be grouped into three main categories: new technology, digital distribution and media ownership; meaning that we could be asked a question focused on one of these particular areas that we are going to be studying in due course.

New Technology Questions:

Jun 2009
How important is technological convergence for institutions and audiences within a media area which you have studied?

Jun 2010
What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

Jun 2012
“Cross-media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences.” To what extent do you agree with this statement in relation to your chosen media area?

Jun 2013
Evaluate the role of digital technologies in the marketing and consumption of products in the media area you have studied.

Digital Distribution Questions:

Jan 2009
Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences, within a media area, which you have studied.

Jun 2011
“Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices.” To what extent would you agree with this statement, within the media area you have studied?

Jan 2012
To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the media area you have studied?

Jun 2013
Evaluate the role of digital technologies in the marketing and consumption of products in the media area you have studied.

Jun 2014
The increase in hardware and content in media industries has been significant in recent years. Discuss the effect this has had on institutions and audiences in the media area you have studied.

Media Ownership Questions:

Jan 2010
“Media production is dominated by global institutions, which sell their products and services to national audiences.” to what extent do you agree with this statement?

Jan 2011
Discuss the issues raised by media ownership in the production and exchange of media texts in your chosen media area.

Jun 2012
“Cross-media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences.” To what extent do you agree with this statement in relation to your chosen media area?

Jan 2013
What impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the media area you have studied?

We also looked at the criteria that we would have to cover in the exam:

1. the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;
2. the importance of cross media convergence and synergy, in production, distribution and marketing;
3. the technology that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production marketing and exchange;
4. the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;
5. the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international and global institutions;
6. the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
7. the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behavior.